Stock levels, pricing, tracking and movement can be challenging to organise in any industry. Managing stock in order to limit waste is a key part of business strategy, and is a key purpose of our stock control solution, which comes as standard with our business management software.Food waste in particular has been a hot topic of discussion, with countries such as France passing laws to ensure supermarkets do not dispose of food unnecessarily and Australian brand Woolworths committing to reducing its landfill-destined food waste to zero by 2020.But it now looks like there could be a different approach to a solution. The newly formed Agricultural Product Development Research Consortium, hosted at the University of Adelaide, aims to revolutionise the way farmer waste is disposed of, by using it to create high-value pharmaceutical products.What is the new consortium intending to do?The broad aim of the consortium is to utilise the crop waste from Australian farmers to create useful products, rather than have it disposed of. The science behind it is that food products contain compounds and molecules that, when extracted, have the potential to become new and useful products.In order to implement the solution, the research is focusing on finding similar compounds and molecules across a range of food waste products so that they can be extracted on a mass scale, making the process cost-effective. It's possible that this new technology could not only reduce what is considered waste and the associated disposal costs in some instances, but could actually help keep grower businesses financially sustainable by reducing margins.

If your business is spread across different sites, it is impossible to be there in person for every meeting or conversation. But with a bit of organisation and the right kind of business management software, it is possible to be on top of each branch.Follow our tips for managing multiple branches effectively and efficiently.Schedule in-branch timeThere is no substitute for visiting branches to get a feel for what's going on and how things are working out. Develop a workable schedule that allows you to visit each of your branches regularly, while also giving you time in between to get your out-of-branch tasks completed.How often you should visit obviously depends on location. If your branches are all local you might be able to dedicate a day at each branch once every week or two. If they are further afield, it may be more realistic to visit for two consecutive days every month. If different branches require more or less management, and you can keep this in mind when creating your schedule so your time isn't wasted.